This isn’t the first foray into politics for the Tea Party candidate, a tight end for the Washington Redskins and the Green Bay Packers in the ’80s. He ran unsuccessfully for the GOP Senate nomination in 2010 against former state senator Dino Rossi, who went on to lose to Sen. Patty Murray in the general election. Didier’s Senate bid was endorsed by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and former congressman Ron Paul.

Didier, now a farmer, also had an unsuccessful bid for state land commissioner in 2012. However, he has two Super Bowl rings from his days as a Redskin, so that may soothe the pain of his electoral defeats.

The Post-Intelligencer says Didier “has been flanked right even in Washington’s Republican Party” in describing his politics:

Didier, in particular, would be a colorful Republican nominee. He is a skeptic about global warming. He complained of the “communist ties” of some Obama appointees.

In 2010, Didier declared: “The U.S. economy has been crippled because environmental interests have choked off our ability to develop and rely on our natural resources.”

Hastingsannounced last week that he is retiring after 10 terms in Congress. Mitt Romney won Washington’s 4th District by 22 points in the 2012 presidential election.